Mohamed Elneny is open to leaving Arsenal and is assessing options from two Turkish sides to move away from north London before the September 8 deadline, per football.london.
The Super Lig market is open for a week longer than in England and could see Elneny return following a previous spell on loan with Besiktas. Additionally, NTV Spor claim the Vodafone Park outfit have made the Gunners an offer for their Egyptian box-to-box technician.
Mikel Arteta admires Elneny from the Arsenal manager’s time playing with the 29-year-old under Arsene Wenger. But the Spaniard would allow him to leave in the next week, should that be Elneny’s desire, having made Ainsley Maitland-Niles guarantees over his role.
Arteta, with Technical Director Edu, performed a U-turn and blocked Maitland-Niles from joining Everton in a last-ditch Deadline Day loan. He considers the England international a key part of his squad, and will afford him minutes in central midfield.
Arsenal’s decision to retain the 24-year-old likely pushes Elneny further down the pecking order. He was already behind Granit Xhaka, Thomas Partey and £17m summer arrival Albert Sambi Lokonga in Arteta’s plans.
Elneny is now considering his available options, football.london claim, after two Turkish sides – potentially Besiktas – expressed interest to Arsenal. But the Gunners will only let their 2016 signing from Basel for £7.5m leave for the right offer.
A final decision has not been made on the £52,000-per-week ace’s future, with his contract up next June. Arsenal discussed extending Elneny’s deal past 2022, but talks stalled in July.
Should Arsenal sell Elneny amid late-window interest from Turkey?
Arteta has shown Elneny since the opening day of the season that he is not one of Arsenal’s first-choice midfielders. After losing Partey to injury in a pre-season friendly with Chelsea, Xhaka and Lokonga started against Brentford and the Blues.
Martin Odegaard also opened the Manchester City loss with Xhaka, before Martin Atkinson showed the Swiss a straight red card. With Elneny only brought on at half-time to plug the gap Xhaka left behind after a reckless and unnecessary challenge.
With Arteta now offering Maitland-Niles assurances that he will feature in his engine room, as well, Elneny will be considering if his future is with Arsenal amid interest in Turkey. Even if the Gunners boss lauds, via the Metro, the ‘special’ traits he provides in north London.
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